I want to fill in the blank of the following sentence with an adjective with a meaning similar to "interested/fascinated/passionate..." but I hope the word sounds negative or ironic:
The mainstream media are _____ in/about reporting gossips of celebrities and politicians.
Also, it would be great if you can change the structure of the whole sentence to make it idiomatic, if necessary. Thanks!
I also want a literal word. I have thought about "crazy", but I think it is too colloquial.
I would say the best word for that spot would be obsessive, as interested sounds more passive than I would like, fascinated sounds like the positive version of obsessive, and passionate also implies something positive, as you are passionate about a hobby.
The definition of obsessive from Google is "a person who is affected by an obsession", and the definition of obsession from Google is "an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind".
Obsession of something is usually looked down upon in society, as an obsession with a particular person is seen as creepy, hence why I decided to use this word. Going back to my hobby example, people normally say they are passionate about something, like guitar, but never obsessive. If I was to say "I am obsessive about playing guitar", I would likely get a lot of concerned stares.
The sentence would be essentially saying "The media cannot report on anything except for people who can only talk about the personal lives of celebrities and politicians".
Your final sentence would therefore be:
The mainstream media are obsessed with reporting the gossip about celebrities and politicians.
are insistent in reporting gossip about celebrities and politicians.
are bent on reporting etc.
are focused on reporting etc.
are unwavering in reporting on x.
gossip does not take an s here. It refers to the activity not people.
I'll go with
to be hung up on sth
to be extremely interested in or worried by a particular subject and spend an unreasonably large amount of time thinking about it
- the mainstream media are hung up on reporting celebrity and political gossip.
In my mind that sounds sarcastic; it invokes the image of desperate journalists doing all the weird stuff to get the best stories and headlines.
My second guess is
to be obsessed with sth
unable to stop thinking about something; too interested in or worried about something:
- the mainstream media are obsessed with
reportingcelebrity and political gossip.It feels similar to the previous sentence in that journalists are acting irrational etc but I'd say this choice to be obsessed with sth is less snide than to be hung up on sth.
My another guess is
to live and breathe sth
when a person lives and breathes something, it is extremely important to them:
- the mainstream media live and breathe
reportingcelebrity and political gossip.This expression sounds almost in favour of the mainstream media compared to the previous two options, it's like gossips and scandals are these people's true passion, which makes this one humorous and sarcastic
~All definitons from CD
Grammar fixes as suggested by @ColleenV and @Andrew
The mainstream media are ___ in/about reporting gossips of celebrities and politicians celebrity and political gossip
You could also use fixated:
fixated, adj.
def 1: so interested in someone or something that you do not pay attention to anything else
definition from macmillandictionary.comfixate, v.
def 3: (Psychoanalysis) to develop a fixation; suffer an arrest in one's emotional or sexual development.Fixation, n.
def 5: a preoccupation with one subject, issue, etc.; obsession
definitions from dictionary.com
Since this is referring to a psychological disorder, it is definitely negative in tone.
Normally fixate takes on as its preposition, so your example would be
The mainstream media are fixated on reporting gossip about politicians and celebrities.
